The arguments pertaining to the bail plea filed by former media honcho Peter Mukerjea, accused in the Sheena Bora murder case, before the Bombay High Court concluded on Tuesday. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is expected to make its arguments before the court on Wednesday.

Mukerjea’s counsel Abad Ponda argued that the CBI had no direct evidence against him and was instead relying on two things to create a chain of circumstantial evidence which is “motive, and phone calls between him and his wife Indrani.” Indrani is the prime accused in the case. Ponda argued that the motive that the CBI had attributed to Mukerjea that he was opposed to the relationship between his son Rahul Mukerjea and Indrani’s daughter Sheena was not correct.

He further said that Mukerjea had no objections to the relationship, and instead, he had simply objected to Rahul and Sheena living together in Mumbai considering their young age. In terms of the frequent phone calls between Mukerjea and Indrani, Ponda said such calls were not unusual considering they were “husband and wife and were in two separate countries at the time.” He also argued that the CBI had no transcripts for these phone calls.

“If a bunch of phone calls can be used as incriminating evidence then several others who were in touch with Indrani, including Joint Commissioner of Police (law and order) Deven Bharti, should be made co-accused in the case,” he argued.

Ponda also insisted that the phone calls and emails exchanged among Mukerjea, Indrani, and Rahul must be considered in “totality” and “Mukerjea had simply been henpecked and foolish in believing everything that Indrani told him and took her word that Sheena was alive.”

Meanwhile, in a separate plea by Mukherjea against the refusal by Sessions Court in giving him a copy of a secret witness statement, the court has kept the matter on November 17.